Automatic gripping and releasing chuck



Sept. 16. 1924. 1,509,061

L. o. HARDWICKE AUTOMATIC GRIPPING AND RELEASING cHUcK f id..- 1s 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 16, 1924.

UNIT S LAURIE O. HARDWICKE, OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOB OF ONE-THIRD 'IO P. C.

MILLER AND ONETHIRD TO A. T. MILLER, BOTH OF RICHMOND COUNTY, GEORGIA.

AUTOMATIC GRIPPING AND RELEASING CHUCK.

Application filed January 13, 1923.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, LAURIE O. HARDWIOKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Atlanta, in the county of Fulton and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Gripping and Releasing Chucks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in' the art to which it appertains to make and use the 5 same.

tools and machines and particularly as the head of various wrenches, for instance the socket and the stud types, and also to hold tools in drill presses and lathes.

Another object is to provide such a device with novel gripping means which will enable ready and automatic application and removal to and from tools, nuts and the like, and in which the gripping pressure or engagement is afforded by turning or other operating movement of the active parts in either direction.

Still another object is to provide a construction utilizing a shell, jaws slidable longitudinally ofv and transversely of the shell, a follower slip-connected with the jaws, a turnable operable head, coacting cam means between the follower and head, and novel means whereby such head may be selectively attached to or engaged by various tools and machine parts, for instance,

wrenches, and a taper shank attachable to a lathe.

Various additional ob ects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the description following taken in connection with accompanying drawings illustrating an operative embodiment thereof.

In said drawings 7 Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a chuck constructed in accordance with my invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudlnal sec- -tional view of the chuck;

Figures 3 and 4 are end views of the chuck;

Serial No. 612,521.

Figure 5 is a detail perspective View of the follower;

Figure 6 is a similar view of the operating head for the follower. v

Figure 7 is a detail perspective view of one of the jaws;

Figure 8 is a cross sectional view on the line 88 of Figure 1, and

Figure 9 is a detail plan view of the antifriction bearing.

Like reference characters designate like or similar parts in the different views.

Referring specifically to the drawings, a metallic shell or casing is provided at 10 having an inwardly tapered wall at 11 and a cylindrical wall at 12, integral with each other.

.The inner surface of wall 11 has a plurality of longitudinally disposed grooves 13 therein, preferably'dove-tailed in cross section, and'adapted to slidably receive ribs 1 1, preferablv clove-tailed in cross section,

disposed at the same angle as the wall 11 and extending integrally or otherwise from gripping jaws 15 whose active faces 16 are in planes parallel with the axis of the shell.

Said active faces 16 may be smooth if de-.

sired as when adapted to engage new or perfectly formed nuts or they may be toothed or otherwise roughened as at 17 to engage worn'nuts, round objects and the like. is obvious that the number of the paws 15 may be increased or diminished as preferred. vI

Vithin the shell 10 a follower disk or plate 18 is disposed, non-rotatably with respect to the shell, and having ribs 19' intethe base wall of the grooves 13, due to their inclination, serving as cams. 3 7 An operatlng head for the follower 1 is provided as at 21 and may have a dlsk at 22. Said follower 18 and disk 22 have coacting lobes or cam projections at 23 in engagement ith each other. Disk 22 is adapted to be turned relatively to the follower so that the follower will be moved inwardly toward the free or gripping end of the chuck. The rotatable disk 22 has a shank 2% integral therewith and journaled in a nut 25. Nut 25 may have a sleeve or gland 26 screw threaded as at 27 to the innor surface of wall 12. Said nut also has an enlargement at 28 which may be serrated or roughened as at 29 to constitute an etlicient element to be gripped manually in order to adjust the nut 25. The nut is provided longitudinally of the sleeve 26 with one or more slots at 30 into which a suitable'locking pin 31, of any suitable construction, may be extended in order to lock the nut 25 to the shell against rotation inde pendently thereof and thus maintain the parts securely in adjusted position. Such pin 31 is preferably a set screw, threaded into the shell 10 as shown.

The inner end of the sleeve 26 constitutes a thrust bearing for the operating head at the disk 22. In order to reduce friction incidental to the rotation of the disk 22, with respect to sleeve 26, ball or other bearings 32 are disposed between them and which are preferably carried by a retainer ring 33.

Round or other openings, in alinement, are provided at 34: and 35 through the follower 18 and the operating head, in order to accommodate engagement with stud bolts. Slot 35 leads to a recess or socket 36, preferably square in cross section, and adapted to be engaged by suitable heads or projections on various tools such as key wrenches, goose neck wrenches of both the ordinary and angle type. lVhen thus connected to a wrench, the chuck serves as the head thereof.

The shank 2a is extended beyond the gripping portion 28 and there provided with external screw threads at 37 which may be engaged by the screw threads of a taper shank as ordinarily used to connect a chuck to a drill press or the like.

Normally the nut 25 is at such an adjustment that a limited movement of the follower and jaws is permissible to facilitate engagement and disengagement of the aws with a nut, tool or the like. The extent of this movement or play may be varied according to the position of the nut 25. As a re sult, pressure is not applied to the jaws until the operating head 24- is turned, as by its connect-ion to and movement of a wrench, a drill press or the like. Due to the fact that this pressure is not applied until the head 24 is turned, the nut, tool or the like is freely engageable and disengageable with respect to the jaws 15.

It will be realized that with the operating head 24 connected in a drill press, or to a wrench handle or lever or otherwise so that it will be turned, either right hand or left hand, that is in either direction, and with a nut, tool or the like surrounded by the jaws 15, that turning movement of the head 2% will through the coaotion of cams 23, slide the follower 18 toward the gripping end of the tool. Sliding movement of the follower is imparted to the aws 15 caus ing them to slide in the same direction and due to the inclination of the wall 11 at the slot 13 and of the ribs 14-, also causing the jaws 15 to move radially inwardly toward the axis of the shell and thus efficiently grip the objects. This gripping pressure is maintained during the turning of the head 24. After turning of the head 2%, the pressure on the jaws is thus relieved, and the nut, tool or the like may be readily disengage-d from the jaws, if necessary head 24 be given a partial rotation in the reverse direction to provide clearance between the follower 18 and disk 22 to enable inward sliding move ment of the follower and the jaws 14-.

As merely one operative embodiment has been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that changes in the details may be resorted to provided they fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim as my invention 1. A chuck comprising a casing having the forward portion of its inner surface tapered, jaws mounted in the casing and having inclined outer sides, a head mounted in the casing for rotary movement only with respect thereto and having its forward side provided with V-shaped cam elements, and a follower mounted between the jaws and the head for longitudinal movement with respect to the casing andhaving cam elements engaging the V-shaped cam elements of the head.

2. A chuck having a shell provided with a tapered end portion, said end portion having grooves therein, jaws having ribs extending into said grooves, the base walls of which grooves constitute cams, a follower within the shell, said follower having ribs, said jaws having slots receiving the last mentioned ribs whereby the aws may move inwardly towards the axis of the shell and on the. follower, an operating head having a disk disposed within the shell, cooperating cam means between the follower and head, a nut screw threaded into the shell and constituting a thrust bearing for said disk, a shank extending outwardly from the disk and ournaled in the nut, and means for at tachment of said shank to means for imparting turning movement thereto.

3. A chuck having a shell, aws longitudinally and radially slidable within the shell, a follower within the shell to engage said jaws, an operating head having a disk disposed within the shell, co -acting means between the follower and disk to slide the follower through operation of the head, a nut screw threaded into the shell and constituting a thrust hearing for said disk, and a shank extending from the disk and journalled in the nut for attachment to an operating means.

4. A chuck comprising a casing having the front end portion of its inner surface tapered, aws mounted in the casing and having inclined outer sides, a head mounted in the casing for rotary movement only with respect thereto and provided with a stem extending through the rear end of the casing,

the front side of the head having V-shaped cam elements, and a follower mounted between the jaws and the head for longitudinal movement with respect to the casing and having V-shaped cam elements engagin the cam elements of the head.

in testimony whereof I hereby affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

LAURIE O. HARDlVICKE.

Witnesses:

J .J HEMPERLEY, CHAS. ROBISON. 

